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The lush tropical forest and reddish-brown hills of Lote, situated along India’s western shoreline, lead to a modest rise where a industrial facility stands against the sky.

The factory is almost brand new, but its equipment is far from new: it comes from the former Miteni plant in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni closed down in 2018 following among the most severe environmental scandals in the nation’s modern record: after years of manufacturing Pfas forever chemicals, the company’s management was brought to trial for polluting water resources in an area inhabited by 350,000 residents. In June, its former executives were convicted at the local tribunal of environmental damage and additional offenses and given prison sentences, which they are expected to appeal against.

Understanding PFAS: Toxicity Levels and Exposure Routes

And yet, the entire operational setup, its patents and processes – everything needed to manufacture Pfas – is now located at Lote Parshuram MIDC, a large industrial zone almost 4,000 miles away, wedged between local communities and wooded areas. And the plant has recently begun to resume PFAS production.

A Toxic Legacy

Previously recognized for its expertise in developing processes for advanced chemicals, Miteni is now notorious for the toxic legacy it left behind. In 2011, researchers found extraordinarily high levels of PFAS compounds in the plant’s wastewater. Numerous of inhabitants had been exposed through drinking water.

The most impacted were Miteni’s own workers. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who was employed for years in its fluorinated chemical department, showed among the top levels of Pfas documented in blood samples. “When the story came to light, I looked at a list of medical conditions associated with PFAS, and found out I had them all,” says Ermetti.

High levels of PFAS in the bloodstream are associated with higher chances of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, liver and kidney damage, fertility issues and more. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent medical procedure.

Community Concerns

Michela Piccoli, 51, a nurse and activist with Mothers Against PFAS, began mobilizing after discovering her offspring’s blood tests showed high levels of forever chemicals. When she found out that Miteni’s proprietary information and machinery were being transferred to India, she was shocked.

“As mothers, as females, our anxiety has increased,” she said. “Since our kids are everyone’s children.”

Corporate Transition

Following Miteni’s insolvency, its assets were acquired in 2019 by a pharmaceutical firm, a branch of the Indian chemical company Laxmi Organic Industries – the only bidder in the open sale. By the start of 2023, all the equipment was travelling on freight ships en route to Mumbai. Meanwhile, Laxmi was promoting its new acquisition to shareholders. Records of investor gatherings show that Laxmi’s executives downplayed ecological worries, with its president, Harshvardhan Goenka, stating that Miteni was “doing everything legally in compliance with EU regulations”.

Goenka is a member on the board of Laxmi Organic the Italian branch, a entity founded in 2021. Another is Antonio Nardone, the last chief executive of Miteni, who was convicted of environmental pollution and false accounting at the June trial and sentenced to six years and four months in prison. According to a ex-supervisor requesting confidentiality, Nardone was traveling for work to India prior to the firm’s collapse.

Although Laxmi purchased Miteni’s assets in June 2019, the environmental assessment report for the building of the factory in Lote shows that in March 2018 the company was already intending to start producing fluorinated compounds matching Miteni’s product list. Laxmi Organic Industries declined to answer requests for comment.

Strategic Expansion

By 2021, Laxmi’s strategy explicitly spelled out the objective to “capture [the] market share of Miteni” and become a leader in the production of Pfas and specialty chemicals. Logistics data indicate that, to get approval on the standard of the chemicals, in 2024 Laxmi began distributing test batches to companies with previous commercial ties with Miteni, such as BASF, Chemours, DuPont and FMC.

From the beginning of 2025, Laxmi’s site in Lote Parshuram has been fully operational, manufacturing substances that will be utilized for pesticides, pharmaceuticals, dyes, cosmetics and other products.

Regulatory Context

Studies demonstrate that levels of persistent pollutants in the environment are worryingly elevated, particularly around manufacturing facilities. But even though global focus is growing, in India the matter is not on the political agenda yet.

“If we look at the regulations, [Pfas] is absent in those standards. It’s unacknowledged by the national authorities as of today,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an ecological scientist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. “Independent research groups across India have conducted studies in different states. But these studies are limited in scope, and there are still very few of them.”

Regional Consequences

Parineeta Dandekar, coordinator of the regional environmental group, says the Lote Parshuram manufacturing zone “has a dismal environmental track record”. After it was established in 1986, “the livelihood of fishing populations in this area totally deteriorated,” she said.

The chemical district is dependent on a shared effluent treatment facility that has been at the forefront of complaints.

“Nearby communities have always stated that it’s not working properly,” said Dandekar. “During power outages, a frequent event in the countryside, the plant fails to operate and factories discharge polluted water directly into the streams.” Regulatory bodies have issued multiple notices to the plant in the past few years.

Global Implications

In the EU, the European Chemical Agency is reviewing a proposal to ban the production, importation and utilization of more than 10,000 persistent compounds. This scrutiny may be pushing the industry to the developing nations, according to Claudia Marcolungo, a legal scholar at the University of Padua. “I think that this matter should be investigated, because the fact that Miteni’s production, patents and equipment have been relocated to a country like India should prompt consideration, at the very least, on the influence that these multinationals have to relocate in nations where there is clearly a race to the bottom in terms of ecological safeguards.”

Persistent Threats

Miteni has shut down, but the firm’s harmful impact continues – at the polluted location in Vicenza, and in Lote. The health impacts linked to Pfas production are expected to impact communities that are facing an hazardous setting for years to come.

“The area has experienced sufficient environmental destruction already,” says Dandekar. “If more dangerous companies establish presence, it’s perpetually concerning.”